Isn’t it nice that Prime Minister Trudeau isn’t going to question the choices the RCMP made that cost Canadians some $215,000? He’s being so open-minded and magnanimous over the Mounties’ decisions to spend taxpayers’ money guarding his family on a trip to the Aga Khan’s Caribbean island.

But of course the cost of security has nothing to do with the RCMP’s decisions and everything to do with his own. As Trudeau said, the RCMP has a responsibility to guard the prime minister and his family. So in fact, they didn’t make any decisions at all. Trudeau is the one who chose to spend his holidays at an elite, remote location owned by a billionaire family friend.

Yes, Trudeau is entitled to a vacation. But there’s something to be said for the leader who chooses not to overdo it, especially when the consequences of a fancy trip are borne by the Canadians whose money he is supposed to respect and protect. It’s not a big amount, but more than any other prime minister, Trudeau knows that symbolism matters. He could have gone to many other places that wouldn’t have caused the RCMP to make the expensive choices he now says he won’t second-guess.

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